Talk:Aneph Enterprises Consolidated Fleet/@comment-27404954-20160601081038
The early-morning sunlight glittered off a massive glassine spire, shining off of silvered insets in the structural metal. The building stood at the foot of a mountain, next to a complex of hangars and assembly buildings which once housed Aneph's first space program. Today, it would be home to a project perhaps even more revolutionary. A convoy of black armored cars pulled up at the gates to the facility, and armed, uniformed Aneph soldiers inspected each car in turn, with everything from metal detectors to handheld x-ray screens. The lead guard waved the convoy through, and the cars began winding their way through the complex. Multiple tanks and guards patrolled the facility, the clanking footsteps of the walker tanks shaking the ground as they walked past. Kappa -- the genetically-engineered "beasts of nightmare" -- patrolled the fence, sniffing out any intruders who would dare trespass. All communications heading in and out of the facility except for a single frequency were jammed, and any ship without authorization heading within a hundred miles of the base would be stopped by several flying ships around the perimeter. All of this security was for a single project. Just one. The Exodus Drive. A single Orcus-class heavy battleship rested in Aneph's largest hangar on Earth, its crew making careful last-minute checks. As the black vans draw up to the building and disgorge their passengers -- important navy officials all, including the faintest rumor that Tato himself would be present for the test -- the crew finally finishes to their satisfaction, and the ship is prepared. As the navy officials take their seats, the countdown begins. A hushed silence falls over the room, only broken by the faint hum of the lights in the room. Then, the engines fired, and the Orcus-class lifted out of the hangar under cloak. As it climbed out of the atmosphere, cameras around the vessel recorded the situation and transmitted it back to the officials at the Aneph facility. The Orcus drifts in high Earth orbit, maneuvering engines firing to stop it. Soon, the spaceship grew still, and deep in its hull, a mysterious device charged. The crew of the Orcus bustled around the bridge, each preparing for the Moment of Exodus. The first people in human history to touch another universe and return. At the main console, the Captain finally gave the order, and three officers triggered their switches at once. The drive in the hull seemed to suck in everything around it before exploding in a violent burst of purple-blue light. The Orcus disappeared. And reappeared somewhere else entirely. It hung in the orbit of a moon, several hundred thousand kilometers away from any possible life whatsoever. There was a long moment of pregnant silence as the navigation officer tested the confirmation protocols, then simply nodded. As one, the crew rose, whooping in joy. The test had worked perfectly, carrying the first people in human history to another universe. And now, back. The Exodus Drive fired again, and the Orcus disappeared. It reappeared not so much as a fraction of a second later than when it had first activated, right within the warp disruptor field of Ceres. It was not fired on -- as Aneph had notified the UAC in advance of some kind of test, however vaguely about the details --, and the Orcus simply warped back to Earth, slipping down back through the atmosphere under cloak. The Exodus Drive had worked beyond all expectations, though it did take much more power than was commonly thought. Conventional warp would still remain the primary transportation mechanism for awhile yet, with the Drive being used only for certain situations. Nevertheless, the proof occurred. And the nation of Aneph received another entry in the annals of historical scientific achievement, though no one would actually know of the Drive until most of the project would be declassified some fifty years from now. In the secret ANF production facilities, machines make slight adjustments to their task regimen, and begin inserting another "backup warp core" into each of the Orcus-class vessels under construction. Soon, ANF heavy battleships will be able to go anywhere, be anywhere, instantaneously. Long live the Fleet.